Conventional meat and poultry lifters usually take the form of a foil pan with sides and the like which is relatively rigid or, alternatively, wire framed devices which are either inserted prior to cooking or may be inserted after cooking in order to attempt to faciliate the lifting of the meat or poultry from the cooking environment be it a pan, within an oven or on a barbecue or the like.
Such devices are most unsatisfactory inasmuch as the open framed type of lifting device often permits the contents to slip and become displaced therefrom splashing hot fat which, of course, is extremely dangerous.
Foil pans are relatively expansive to produce and as such, cannot be classified as disposable lifters. Furthermore they do not include drainage apertures but merely act as a substitute for a conventional roasting pan. Examples of the latter include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,749,000 and 2,875,683.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,486 teaches the use of a device which is adapted to be slid under the cooked roast or poultry with the spaced and parallel strips supposedly acting to separate the meat from the pan in which it has been cooked. However this particular device suffers from the same disadvantages that exist with the articulated wire rod type of lifter, namely, that the contents easily slip and become displaced.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a combination cooking sheet and lifter which may be placed in an existing roasting pan or, alternatively, may be used upon a barbecue grill. The meat or poultry to be cooked is engaged upon the surface of the sheet and is fully supported thereby during the cooking process and the sheet contains at least one drainage hole that fat, juices and the like drain through into the pan during the cooking process. When it is desired to remove the meat or poultry, handle portions which are formed on the ends of the sheet, may be used to partial wrap the sheet around the meat or poultry in a cradling relationship thus fully supporting the meat or poultry during the lifting process from the pan or barbecue or other cooking environment whereupon it is easily slid from the sheet onto the serving platter or, alternatively, the sheet may be engaged upon the serving platter with the meat or roast remaining thereon.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a combination cooking sheet and lifter for meat, poultry and the like comprising a substantially flat, oval or rectangular sheet of relatively heavy duty aluminium foil, lifting handle portions formed at each end thereof, drainage apertures through said sheet substantially centrally thereof and liquid collecting and guiding areas formed around said drainage apertures, said sheet being flexible thereby cradling the meat or poultry when lifting same from the cooking medium.
Another advantage of the invention is that raised ridges may be formed on the foil sheet during manufacture thus defining depressed or recessed areas which may act as liquid collecting and guiding areas to drainage hole which are pierced through the foil.
Another advantage of the invention is that any raw edges formed during the cutting of the sheet to the desired configuration, may be rolled and/or crimped thus preventing damage from occuring to the hands of the user and also reinforcing the outer perimetrical edge of the sheet and the edges defining the hand engaging areas adjacent each end thereof.
A yet further advantage of the invention is that it can either be reused, if desired, or, can be disposed of inasmuch as the cost of producing same is minimal compared to reusable roasing pans made of foil and the like.
A yet further advantage of the invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is simple in construction, economical in manufacture, and otherwise well suited for the purpose for which it is designed.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which: